For the Record

Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (Tex.) told a Tulane audience March 24 that he thought the chances were now 50-50 that the House would vote a bill of impeachment, but Bentsen doesn’t think the Senate will convict the President. McGovern presidential campaign aide Frank Mankiewicz, sharing the platform with Bentsen, said he didn’t believe the Senate would have an opportunity to act. “I think he [Nixon] will resign first.” . . . Chairman Peter Rodino of the House Judiciary now says the Committee will not meet its tentative April 30 deadline, that it may be early June before it concludes its impeachment action. . . . Leonard Woodcock, of the United Auto Workers, who had called for Nixon’s resignation at the time of the Saturday Night Massacre, now says the proper route is impeachment since resignation “would leave the myth of a martyred President.” . . . Alger Hiss, who is becoming ever more visible at left wing do’s, publicly signed an impeachment petition just the other day. . . . Historian Henry Steele Commager, featured speaker at an Impeach Nixon rally in Seattle, has called not only for that but also for the abolition of the CIA, the abolition of the office of the Vice Presidency, a new method of succession to the Presidency, and—for good measure—a new seniority system in Congress. . . . With friends like this dept.: former presidential aide Robert Finch, who has decided he won’t after all run for anything in California this year, says, “I’m not going to turn my back totally on him [Nixon]” (just partially? three-quarters? fifteen-sixteenths?).

Rep. Robert Michel (R., Ill.), chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee, says the big donors aren’t around these days and that it takes “a lot of five and ten dollar donations to make up for those three-grand gifts.”. . . But then the Democrats are having their troubles too, says Wall Street Journal, which reports that a major Democratic fundraising dinner in Washington last week brought in 30 per cent less than the $1 million it made a year ago. . . . The Government Accounting Office now says leading presidential contenders in 1972 spent nearly $100 million on their campaigns. The breakdown: Nixon $49 million, McGovern $45 million, Humphrey $4.8 million, Wallace $1.6 million. . . . The ACU reports that 35 conservative congressmen, headed by North Carolina’s Jesse Helms, have expressed concern to the President over the “runaway” proposed budget for fiscal ’75. . . . The Communist Daily World has put its finger on it: Sen. James Buckley’s call for resignation was a cunning move to derail the present impeachment drive in Congress. . . . In Washington, Buckley staffers, struggling under an avalanche of mail (12,000 in the first post-statement week), are sorting the letters into cartons labeled “great Americans” and “misinformed Americans.” (Some of the younger and more irreverent staff members have set up an unofficial office pool on whether Buckley will be called Judas, Brutus, or Benedict Arnold most often.)

Featured Tags

House of Representatives

Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (Tex.) told a Tulane audience March 24 that he thought the chances were now 50-50 that the House would vote a bill of impeachment, but Bentsen doesn’t think the Senate will convict the President. McGovern presidential campaign aide Frank Mankiewicz, sharing the platform with Bentsen, said he didn’t believe the Senate would have an opportunity to act. “I think he [Nixon] will resign first.” . . . Chairman Peter Rodino of the House Judiciary now says the Committee will not meet its tentative April 30 deadline, that it may be early June before it concludes its impeachment action. . . . Leonard Woodcock, of the United Auto Workers, who had called for Nixon’s resignation at the time of the Saturday Night Massacre, now says the proper route is impeachment since resignation “would leave the myth of a martyred President.” . . . Alger Hiss, who is becoming ever more visible at left wing do’s, publicly signed an impeachment petition just the other day. . . . Historian Henry Steele Commager, featured speaker at an Impeach Nixon rally in Seattle, has called not only for that but also for the abolition of the CIA, the abolition of the office of the Vice Presidency, a new method of succession to the Presidency, and—for good measure—a new seniority system in Congress. . . . With friends like this dept.: former presidential aide Robert Finch, who has decided he won’t after all run for anything in California this year, says, “I’m not going to turn my back totally on him [Nixon]” (just partially? three-quarters? fifteen-sixteenths?).

Rep. Robert Michel (R., Ill.), chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee, says the big donors aren’t around these days and that it takes “a lot of five and ten dollar donations to make up for those three-grand gifts.”. . . But then the Democrats are having their troubles too, says Wall Street Journal, which reports that a major Democratic fundraising dinner in Washington last week brought in 30 per cent less than the $1 million it made a year ago. . . . The Government Accounting Office now says leading presidential contenders in 1972 spent nearly $100 million on their campaigns. The breakdown: Nixon $49 million, McGovern $45 million, Humphrey $4.8 million, Wallace $1.6 million. . . . The ACU reports that 35 conservative congressmen, headed by North Carolina’s Jesse Helms, have expressed concern to the President over the “runaway” proposed budget for fiscal ’75. . . . The Communist Daily World has put its finger on it: Sen. James Buckley’s call for resignation was a cunning move to derail the present impeachment drive in Congress. . . . In Washington, Buckley staffers, struggling under an avalanche of mail (12,000 in the first post-statement week), are sorting the letters into cartons labeled “great Americans” and “misinformed Americans.” (Some of the younger and more irreverent staff members have set up an unofficial office pool on whether Buckley will be called Judas, Brutus, or Benedict Arnold most often.)